Seduction
by compulsivecharm
Summary: Tenten is assigned her first seduction mission and must travel to the Land of Lightning with Neji as backup. My first fanfic, so constructive criticism is welcome.
1. The Mission

**Author's Note:**

This is my first attempt at fanfiction. It's mostly an endeavour to improve my characterisation and my writing in general, so any constructive criticism would be greatly appreciated :] updates are likely to be irregular, so I'll apologise in advance.

At the time of this story, all three members of Team Gai are 18, and have the same ranks as at present: Neji is a Jounin, while Tenten and Lee are Chuunins.

* * *

><p>We stood in Tsunade's office, waiting for the mission briefing we'd been summoned for. She was at her desk, hunched over a scroll and silhouetted by the sunrise visible through the window behind her. Dawn was breaking over Konoha, and the sky was streaked with orange and pink.<p>

I glanced surreptitiously at my watch. 5:09, it read. 9 minutes ago, I'd arrived with the rest of my team at our training grounds to find Izumo waiting for us. He'd announced that we'd been assigned a mission which would take place in a few hours, and that we were to hurry to Tsunade's office to receive our orders.

We'd gone straight there. Lee arrived first; to him, everything was a race, a test of speed or strength or intellect. He might be a Chuunin now, but he'd lost none of the enthusiasm and determination that had possessed him as a student of the academy.

'The flames of youth', his sensei called it, and was proud of him for it. For me and Neji, Gai-sensei was an eccentric uncle, full of joy and passion and ridiculous poses. To Lee, he was a father figure and a mentor, although Lee had mastered Strong Fist so completely that they were now on equal footing.

Neji was the quiet, serious one of the team. The genius of the Hyuuga clan, he was the only one of the Konoha 11 to have reached Jounin status. Formerly arrogant and haughty, he' become kinder and more open since finding out the truth about his father's death.

It was he who spoke first. "You summoned us, Hokage-sama?"

"Yes." She looked up from her paperwork. There were bags under her eyes, but her gaze was as sharp as ever. "I'm afraid you won't be working together. There are two missions: one for you two," her gaze fell on me and Neji, "and one for you." She indicated Gai-sensei and Lee.

Splitting up a standard team was unusual, but in this case it didn't surprise me. While it was the most effective formation, we lacked the numbers to send out four-man teams for every mission when fewer shinobi would do. Most Konoha ninja were needed to work on the reconstruction of the village after our latest battle with the Akatsuki, and the numbers of active shinobi had diminished.

"Gai and Lee, you will escort the Daimyo to the Land of Wind and back. He is likely to be targeted more than usual during his journeys, but I have no doubt you'll protect him."

"Thank you, Tsunade-sama!" Lee cried. His face glowed with pride at having been entrusted with such an important mission.

"We'll do our best!" Gai-sensei exclaimed, giving her a thumbs-up.

"Your meeting point is the Konoha gate, three hours from now. Pack yourself at least three, erm, changes of clothes," she eyed the green spandex suits, "because you'll be there for a few days while the negotiations take place."

"Yes, Hokage-sama!" they chorused.

She turned to me and Neji. "Now, as for you two. This will be Tenten's mission mainly, so Neji, you'll act as backup."

My eyes widened in surprise. _My_ mission? Did it have something to do with weaponry?

"It's not something you've done before, Tenten," she continued. "It's a seduction mission. I'd normally give it to Anko or Ino, someone more experienced, but we're short-staffed and all the other kunoichi are on missions."

Cold panic crept into my stomach at the word 'seduction'. This kind of mission was something I was completely unsuited for. Every kunoichi had been trained by Anko to carry out a successful seduction, but though I'd listened and tried to do everything Anko showed us, for me it had seemed like a joke. Of all the kunoichi in the Leaf village, I was probably the worst possible choice. I belonged with combat and with my weapons; missions like those belonged to girls like Sakura and Ino, who went shopping and nightclubbing and wore makeup and had boyfriends and generally did things other than train. Seduction came easily to them, since they practiced it probably every night they went clubbing. I wasn't a girly-girl like that. I was a weapons mistress, and I worked hard to be one.

Besides that, I also had no experience whatsoever. I knew the basics, like _Start talking to them_, and _Sound interested in everything they say_, and_ Try to make as much casual contact with them as possible_, but I hadn't had a chance to practice them. New techniques had to be learnt through practice, and the thought of having to do this for the first time on a mission, when getting it right really mattered, worsened my anxiety.

"Tsunade-sama," I began, ignoring the twist of guilt in my gut, "I don't think I'm a suitable choice for this mission. My lack of… um, experience, in this area, might endanger the mission."

I felt my face start to flush. Talking to the Hokage about my lack of _experience_ was embarrassing enough, let alone in front of my teammates and sensei.

"I'm sorry, Tenten." She sighed. "But it's a kunoichi's job to be prepared for any mission, and no-one else is available. If it helps, it's a straightforward mission – you might not even have to touch him. The more he drinks, the quicker he'll spill."

"You can do it, Tenten!" shouted Lee, his eyes wide and voice full of conviction.

Gai-sensei laid a hand on my shoulder, his face unusually solemn. "Tenten, we believe in you. You have blossomed into a beautiful flower, and if you complete this mission, you will become stronger for it." He abandoned his serious expression and struck a pose, teeth gleaming. "Let your flames of youth explode, Tenten!" he cried.

I sighed at their unwavering enthusiasm. I couldn't let my teammates down, and if this was an important mission for the Leaf village, then I would grit my teeth and get it over with. "Okay," I said, amid Gai and Lee's cheering. "I'll do it."

"Excellent," Tsunade said, smiling. "However, I must ask Gai and Lee to leave the room before I give you your mission briefing, as the information involved is classified."

"Yes, Tsunade-sama," Lee replied.

"Good luck with your mission," I said, trying to keep the jealousy out of my voice. I would have given anything to join them.

"Not to fear, Tenten, the daimyo is safe in our hands!" he exclaimed. "And for every ninja I don't beat, I will run 500 laps around the village!"

"Come on, Lee! Don't be so slow!" Gai-sensei cried, already outside Tsunade's office. "We must pack quickly, so that we can leave as early as possible! There's no time to waste!"

"YES, GAI-SENSEI," Lee bawled, and was gone in less than a second.

"Those idiots," I said, smiling fondly despite myself. "They're going to have to wait until the daimyo gets there whether they're early or not."

"Now, your mission," Tsunade began. "We've had a tipoff that Kumokagure is planning to infiltrate Konoha to steal our most powerful weapons and shinobi."

Beside me, Neji tensed. "Isn't Kumokagure allied with us?" I asked, frowning.

"They've shown disregard for our alliance in the past, and the Raikage is keen to gather techniques and weaponry so that the Lightning Country can gain an advantage over the other nations."

I realised why this news had put Neji on edge: the ninjas who had tried to kidnap Hinata had been sent by the Raikage to find the key to the Byakugan. When their attempt had failed, they'd demanded the body of Neji's uncle, but his father had volunteered to be sacrificed in order to save the Hyuuga_ kekkei genkai._

Tsunade continued. "This mission relies on extreme discretion. If your investigation is discovered, the Land of Lightning may use it as an excuse to violate the alliance, even if they had not been planning an invasion. You must infiltrate the village, determine whether the tipoff is accurate, and return without triggering any suspicions."

"It won't be easy," Neji said, his brows furrowed. "The Raikage's building is known to have unsurpassable defences, and the Head Ninja of the village are formidable opponents."

"You're right," replied Tsunade, "but there is a weak spot. Our informant claims that there is one Head Ninja who may be persuaded to boast about his work by some sake and a pretty girl." She held up one of her empty sake bottles and then pointed at Tenten as she spoke.

"His name is Daiki Hakamichi, and he's their tactician." She passed a photo to Neji, and he examined it before giving it to me. It showed a youngish man, probably in his mid-twenties, with shoulder-length brown hair and a grim expression. "He has a brilliant mind for battles and he's a skilled fighter himself, but he lacks discipline, and that's our way in."

"You'll need this as a precaution," she added, and handed me a clear plastic packet containing a white pill. "It's a weak memory repressant which dissolves in liquid. Slip it into his sake and it'll blur his memory of the night – he'll forget your face and anything he told you, but not what happened."

"Thank you, Tsunade-sama," I said, examining the pill warily. It seemed that there was hardly any margin for error – if I was too heavy-handed, the drug might not be strong enough to erase his memory of me.

"One last thing: you'll have to pick up a dress and shoes from Ino in the next hour. She heard about the mission and offered to lend you some clubbing clothes."

I barely managed to hold in a groan. I'd seen what Ino considered "clubbing clothes" and I was not looking forward to seeing what she had planned for me.

"Leave as soon as possible," Tsunade finished.

"We understand," said Neji.


	2. The Preparation

**Author's Note: **Sorry for the long wait!

"Meet at the gates in an hour," Neji had said outside Tsunade's office before heading towards the Hyuuga complex. Twenty minutes had passed since then, and I still hadn't finished packing.

I huffed a sigh and surveyed my room. I lived on my own in a one-bedroomed apartment: a light, airy place, generally cream-coloured with a black-and-white kitchen and a small bedroom with an ensuite. It wasn't anything big or fancy, but it was close to our training grounds and had a rent that my income as a kunoichi could comfortably cover. I was a practical person, and having money to buy weapons was much more important to me than extra living space.

The state of my living room somewhat reflected that. The dining table, the sofa, the window sills, the floor and all other available surfaces were covered with the weapons I'd started cleaning the evening before. There were senbon, kunai, spears, katanas, shuriken, tonfa, crossbows, daggers and nunchaku, all laid in neat rows and gleaming in the light from the sunrise.

My bedroom, however, was anything but organised. Had anyone walked in at that moment, the immediate impression would have been of some kind of bizarre dry-cleaning accident. My clothes were strewn everywhere, piles of them covering the floor and my bed. Every drawer was either pulled out or on the floor and bore the signs of having been rummaged through; I'd been searching for one thing in particular, and so far I'd been unsuccessful.

To be precise, I'd been looking for underwear. My civilian clothes – a white Chinese-style top and black three-quarter-length trousers – were folded neatly into a rucksack, as were my sanitary bag, pajamas and normal underwear, and I'd even managed to unearth a makeup bag someone had given me. The only thing left was the issue of which underwear to use for the mission itself.

I normally wore breast bindings and white boyshorts, so 'usual underwear' definitely wasn't an option. I did _own_ other pants, and a few bras, but they were all either white or pastel-coloured. My wardrobe catered for _functional, _not _sexy_.

_Sexy_. I felt a throb of anxiety at the word, and tried to push down the sickly feeling that had risen in the back of my throat. It reminded me far too much of what I might have to do, and that I had no idea how to do it. I breathed deeply in and out in an effort to calm down and focused on the issue at hand.

The remaining option was something that I'd avoided until now in hope of finding an alternative, but it seemed I had no choice. Grimacing, I opened the bottom drawer of the dresser, which had stayed untouched, and pulled out my last resort.

It had been bought for me, during a shopping trip with Temari a few years after our battle at the Chuunin exams. She was in the Leaf village as an ambassador, negotiating the details of the truce between Leaf and Sand, and I'd bumped into her outside Ichiraku Ramen after my morning training session. Apparently Shikamaru had disappeared after showing her around the village, and she was impatient to look at our shopping district. She recognised me from our Chuunin battle, and persuaded me to join her, since she didn't know her way around and wanted some company.

We'd started off in the weapons shops, to my delight, but after interrogating me about my love life and finding out that I'd never even kissed a boy, she'd decided to take matters into her own hands. From there, the day had rapidly gone downhill. She demanded at first that I buy a pack of condoms, "just in case", but after I refused point-blank, settled for forcing me to pick out underwear.

We went into a series of clothes shops where she picked up some Konoha-style clothes and I tried on underwear. She soon grew exasperated. I hadn't considered myself picky when it came to clothes, but none of the sets seemed right – everything was all too gaudy, or revealing, or overly elaborate. Eventually, after what for her had been a successful day's shopping, she marched into a lingerie shop, declared that one of the underwear sets hanging in the window was perfect for me, and bought it without even letting me try it on.

Until now, it had lain untouched in my bottom drawer. I held it up warily. Both parts were made of black lace and looked extremely flimsy.I supposed I had to check whether it was the right size, since I'd have to buy some in Kumogakure during the day of the mission if these were no good. I undressed quickly and put them on.

The underwear did fit, but it was very revealing and barely supported anything. Jumping and running during the mission would definitely be off the cards. Feeling exposed, I went to cross my arms over my chest before remembering that that wouldn't be an option during the mission. I flushed at the thought.

It wasn't that I didn't have the self-confidence. It was part of my job to maintain a healthy physique, and while I had an athletic figure thanks to Gai-sensei's daily training regimes, I still had enough curves to need to use breast bindings. It was more the degrading nature of the whole thing: having to dress up like this to impress a man I had no respect for.

But of course, being seduced was his weakness, and our way in. I would cross that bridge when I came to it, and hopefully after a few strong drinks.

I changed quickly back into my normal clothes and stuffed the other underwear into my rucksack, pushing it as far down as possible. I checked my watch. Half an hour until I had to meet Neji. I left my room as it was, not wanting to waste any more time tidying up, and stepped around the weaponry in my living room, grabbing my weapon scrolls and various weapons en route. Still in the process of concealing them in my clothes, I locked the door behind me and jogged to the Yamanaka flower shop.

I was glad that I wouldn't have to visit for long. I'd only spoken to Ino once, a good few years ago, at which time she'd been preoccupied with the revenge-driven Sasuke. She'd struck me as being particularly shallow, and I could only hope that she'd grown up a little since then.

Still, I wasn't optimistic. With any luck, she'd have the dress and shoes already prepared and I wouldn't have to endure her giggling and gossiping for too long.

"Tenten!" Ino called, her face lighting up as I entered the store. The door-chime tinkled as the door closed behind me. "Jeez, I've been waiting for ages!" She stood behind the counter, hands on hips, in an apron and a headscarf. Even when she wasn't dressed up, she still looked stylish.

"Sorry. I had to pack." I approached the counter, walking between a row of fragrant flower displays and one of gardening features.

"Come upstairs!" Ino gestured to the bead curtain behind her, and I followed her into the back room and up a set of narrow stairs to her parents' apartment. The smell of flowers faded as we moved through her hall.

"So, do you think you're ready?" she asked as we entered her room. The shade of her walls matched the purple of her training clothes, I noticed. One wall was occupied by a large wardrobe and the other a dressing table.

"Not at all," I replied, letting my despair seep into my voice. "I wish someone else was available to do it. I have no idea what I'm doing with this kind of thing."

She took a dress from where it had been hanging on the hook on the back of her door. "Well, you've got to start pulling your weight at some point." She held the dress against me. "It's a horrible job, no matter who you are and who you have sex with. Or don't." She glanced up at me. "Have you?"

I looked away, a little shocked by her bluntness. "No," I said, feeling self-conscious. "I've never even kissed anyone."

"That's nothing to be ashamed of," Ino said firmly. Noticing my raised eyebrows, she continued. "It's a lot better than doing it too early and regretting it. Especially if you're the kind of person who values the sincerity of relationships, which you are. Now, try this on. Ensuite's through that door."

I took the dress and went through, relieved and a little surprised that I hadn't been laughed at. I'd been expecting my virginity to be a source of amusement, especially for someone a year younger than me. Ino wasn't the shallow party girl I'd been expecting; apparently she was more mature than I'd given her credit for.

Reassured, I looked at the dress she'd picked out. It was exactly my kind of thing: a simple, unembroidered dress which was nonetheless elegant. It was black and strapless, and came to just above knee height when I tried it on.

"It's perfect," I called.

"Glad you think so. I would have given you a tighter one, but I thought you'd appreciate the extra room for storing weapons. Do you have a strapless bra to wear with it?"

Oh. "I don't think so… There's one in my bag, but it has straps."

There was a pause as she searched for it. "The black one?"

"Yeah."

"Huh." There was a pause. "You actually own lingerie?"

"Only because Temari bought it for me."

"Ohhhh." Her tone was one of sudden understanding. "I didn't realise you and Temari were so close."

"I just offered to show her around. Apparently to a Sand kunoichi that's an invitation to take my sex life into her own hands."

"Heh. Anyway, the bra's straps are detachable, so you can wear it under the dress. Can I come in?"

"Sure."

She entered carrying a pair of black platform court shoes and handed them to me. "See if these fit you. The actual heel is only about 3 inches, but they look higher 'cause of the platform at the front."

I slotted my feet into them and attempted to stand up while Ino stood back and watched critically. After a minute of wobbling, I managed to find my balance and stood up straight.

"They're so high! I'm going to be even taller than Neji in these," I said, awed.

"Neji's going with you?" She chuckled. "Won't that be a bit awkward? I can't really picture him in a club."

"He'll probably just stay in the hotel and meditate, knowing him."

"And here I was picturing him as the life of the party." Her expression was serious for a few seconds. "Come to think of it, you two wouldn't make a bad match. Have you ever considered going out with him?"

"You are joking. Neji may be a lot more friendly now, but I really don't think he'd be interested in that kind of thing. He's too dedicated to his job."

"Shame." She looked me up and down. "You seem to be pretty steady on those now. Try walking up and down. Does he ever drink?"

"Not that I've seen." The heels made a clacking noise on the tiles as I trotted to one end of her bathroom and back. I was pleasantly surprised to find that walking in them was easier than I'd predicted.

"I reckon you'll be fine in those." She checked her watch. "You'd better get going. You can take this with you, if you like." She offered me a book. The pink letters on the front identified it as 'The Art Of The Seductress'. "It's a seduction technique guide. If you're still nervous, you could have a look through."

"Thanks, Ino." I took it and stuffed it into my bag along with the dress and shoes.

"Anything you want to know before you leave?" she asked as she led me back downstairs.

My mind went blank. _Everything,_ I thought. _Anything._

"Erm… Just some general pointers?"

"What's the guy like?"

I thought back to the briefing. "He's a tactical genius, but undisciplined. He drinks a lot."

Having reached the ground floor of the shop, Ino stopped walking in contemplation. "Sounds like the kind of guy who drinks to escape. He won't be looking for a smart woman, just a quick fling, so play dumb." She narrowed her eyes. "If he asks you a question about yourself, only give vague answers and be as playful as possible. A tactician won't be able to resist a mystery like that. Don't be evasive, though, or you'll make him suspicious."

"I'll remember that." If only I could take her people skills with me as well as her advice. "Thanks a lot, Ino. I don't know what I'd have done without your help."

"No problem," she replied briskly. "Good luck with the mission."

"You're off on a mission today too, right?" I asked as she resumed her position behind the counter.

"Yeah. A-rank in the Land of Waves. Apparently the shops there are absolutely dire."

I couldn't help but laugh at her sense of priorities. "Well, good luck to you too, then."

"Thanks. And look after my stuff."

"I will." I left the shop with a wave and started walking towards the village gates. Neji was waiting there already, wearing his normal mission clothes and carrying a beige bag over one shoulder.

"Hey," I greeted him.

"You're five minute late," he replied, his voice stern.

I winced. I'd forgotten to check my watch at Ino's. "Sorry." I gestured to his bag. "Are you bringing mission clothes, then?"

"Yes. It's a suit."

"Huh. I've never seen you in a suit before."

"That's because I've never worn one. This belongs to my cousin. Shall we go?"

"Ready when you are."


End file.
